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Hypertext Fiction
Introduction History From steam ships, to railroads, the industrial revolution would forever be engraved as the greatest period in the history of our civilization, because it transformed mankind from a species prone to doing everything by hand and arduous labor to one opened to the use of machines in every aspect of our lives. Our inventions and information gathering increased exponentially and was in dire need of a more efficient way to store and catalog our notes so that it could be easily retrieved by all who needed access to them, the question then becomes how? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush Vannevar Bush], the father of hypertext proposed the design and use of a device he called the “memex” which would “is a device in which an individual stores his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory” www.cyberartsweb.org. Thus marking the beginning of the hypertext, this would later be coined by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Nelson Ted Nelson] a pupil of Bush in 1963. Following its coinage, through the use of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyspace Storypace] and [http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0154.html HyperCard] software, the development of hypertext fiction did not get underway until 1987 with the production of ''Afternoon a story'' by Michael Joyce, which was published by [http://www.eastgate.com Eastgate Systems ] in 1991 in the form of CD-ROMs. In 1994 we see the first production of a serialized version of hypertext novel [http://www.dysmedia.com/Words/delirium.html Delirium]by Douglas Cooper on the internet, which used the concept of links that would allow the reader to control the navigation of the story as he/she chooses. This was later followed by the publication of [http://www.sunshine69.com/noflash.html Sunshine 69], by Bobby Radyd in 1996, which used a mapping system giving the reader greater control and more navigational options by increasing the number of strands and links. Since then there has been many publications of multi-cursal hypertext fictions, by the likes of Adrienne Eisen, Stuart Moulthrop and others. An example of a hypertext fiction piece of literature is Patchwork Girl by Shelley Jackson. Above is a video showing the different lexia and links involved in a hypertext fiction. ''The Unknown'' by Scott Rettberg, William Gillespie, Dirk Stratton and Frank Marquardt [http://eliterature.org/ Electronic Literature] is a form of literature that is digitally created and written, it differs from traditional forms of literature in that it for the most part cannot be printed and it is imbedded with electronic codes. Since its inception in the 1980s electronic literature has manifested in both popularity and genre. The first form of electronic literature known to society came in the form of [http://mural.uv.es/neusorpe/hypertext_fiction.html Hypertext Fiction] which broke the traditional concept of fictional literature, by becoming non-linear which was made possible by the use of hypertext links. The induction of the hypertext link into electronic literature further widened the line of separation between traditional and electronic literature by giving the reader options as to how they would like to maneuver through the text. In lieu of this Hypertext Fiction becomes this multicursal labyrinth that is embedded with a plethora of stories to be consumed by the reader. Hypertext Fiction is both nonlinear and interactive narratives with examples ranging from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Forking_Paths The Garden of Forking Paths], by Jorge Luis Borges, and hypertext novel [http://www.dysmedia.com/Words/delirium.html Delirium ]by Douglas Cooper. I shall now like to focus my attention on [http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/rettberg_theunknown.html The Unknown] by Scott Rettberg, William Gillespie, Dirk Stratton, and Frank Marquardt is a great example of electronic literature it is captivating, self-reflective, and a mulitcursal labyrinth. The unknown is a mélange of reality, fiction, politics, crime, war, science, drugs, and sex all packaged into what seems like an endless text filled with metaphors and Imagery, it is “an encyclopedic work and a unique record of a particular period in American history, the moment of irrational exuberance that preceded the dawn of the age of terror” http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/rettberg_theunknown.html. The link [http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/rettberg_the_unknown/boshotel.htm Shot] is a prime example of how the authors through their use of words and images attempt to portray the buildup and the eventual American led [http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/index.htm NATO] intervention in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo Kosovo], via their experience and use of acid and mescaline. If one is familiar with this event in American history, this war was peculiar, the Kosovo Liberation Army was labeled as terrorist group and then all of a sudden the US and NATO members removed them from the list and in 1998-99 helped them in their attack on Yugoslavia. This led to discrepancies in the number of civilian casualties due to NATO bombing of what for the most part was believed to have been military and or government target, including the Israeli embassy. The actions of the authors to me resemble those taken by the US and NATO, Dirk is Clinton, and Frank who is unintentionally shot by Dirk in the hotel room is the unintended civilian casualty and the Israeli embassy, and the remainder of the group NATO members. What’s so great about the Unknown is that it encourages the reader to research the events or historical figures mentioned in these sometimes part fictional and part factual events, even if one is aware of the situation or history there’s just that first, second or even third piece of information that the reader is oblivious to. In the link [http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/rettberg_the_unknown/dc7.htmthey what he meant] the authors use the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair Iran-Contra affair] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North Oliver "Ollie" North] who sold weapons to Iran in hopes of releasing American hostages in held in Iran, what ended up happening is that Oliver North took proceeds from the arms sales to support the Contras, in Nicaragua. I seldom read fiction because it fails to incorporate reality into the text, it based on none factual information that is often filled with theatrics. What I like about the unknown is that it does incorporate factual and none factual information into its text, I suppose you can say that it remediated traditional fiction and took it to the next level. '''''Dead Man Walking''''' A Hypertext Fiction The work of hypertext fiction which I chose was a type of “choose your own adventure” literature online from a site called Choose Your Story.com. The particular story I picked was one of the longest yet most interesting. I read [http://chooseyourstory.com/story/viewer/default.aspx?StoryId=11246 Dead Man Walking] . Synopsis This work of electronic literature was quite interesting. Similar to the choose your own adventure novels where the reader picks a path for the story to go and flips to the designated page, this story uses hyperlinks to guide the reader in his or her own journey. The scene is set in a post apocalyptic zombie infested wasteland starting in a city subway. The reader must navigate their way out of the subway without getting lost or killed by the malicious hordes of the undead. “Dead Man Walking” is made up of three general sections; the subway, the city, and finding the family. One particularly interesting aspect is how in depth the story actually goes. You are a man looking for his wife and kids and at one point, you find a cell phone and call the wife. She answers but the call is cut short by an outraged man on the other end leaving the reader to wonder what is going on. Also, the use of imagery throughout the text is astonishing especially in the descriptions of the zombies stating at one point “you see a zombie stumbling towards you from the darkness – arms outstretched and jaws wide with anticipation of your soft flesh.” One major trend or theme of the text is that is tends to point the reader in the right direction while at the same time giving multiple plausible options. The trick is only one of them is the most logical choice and will lead the reader down the best path to the end. Dead Man Walking as Hypertext I could not make it all the way to the end but that is not surprising considering there is over two thousand pages of text. This text can be classified under a few different genres. I chose to classify it as hypertext fiction. Obviously it is a work of fiction but it also has some key elements of Interactive fiction. According to Professor Dennis Jerzhttp://jerz.setonhill.edu/if/intro.htm, “Interactive fiction (IF) is computer-mediated narrative, resembling a fine-grained ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ story, in which the reader helps to determine the outcome of the story” however, I do not consider this to be as much interactive fiction as hypertext fiction. Jerz continues to say “the interactor types a command; the computer describes what happens next, and then waits for additional input." The key point here is type. Hypertext uses lexia to navigate through the story but interactive fiction has a much more complex array. If the definition of interactive fiction is just that the reader determines the outcome of a story, any hypertext can be classifies under this category as well. Removing hypertext fiction and placing it under interactive fiction would remove hypertext as its own genre all together. Because of the hyperlinks and not the act of “commanding” the text, my chosen work is more of a hypertext fiction than interactive fiction. There is also the element of programming. From the perspective of an author creating the work of literature, creating an interactive fiction game required the computer to recognize hundreds of commands (more or less depending on the quality of the game). This differs from “Dead Man Walking” because it does not need to recognize any commands and all input from the user simply links to another page. When it comes to literature, there is never fully one set genre for a text. All writing incorporates aspects of all different areas making unique, constantly evolving works which is what has shaped the current world of literature. KJ Hockaday Ezra Schwartz References